In the next few years communities noted increases of as much as 600% in the number of bears that had to be trapped, tranquilized and removed from city cores.

One of the direct results of the cancellation of the hunt, was the formation of the Canadian Outdoor Heritage Alliance (COHA), a hunting, fishing, and trapping advocacy organization formed in 1999, by a group of outdoor organizations to spearhead their worry that government was no longer making wildlife decisions based on true scientific research and biological studies.

One of the COHA initiatives resulted in more than 130 northern Ontario municipalities writing the Ontario government, demanding the return of the spring bear hunt as the growing population of black bears was presenting, in their minds, an increasing danger to their citizens.

After three years of pressure from hunting groups and COHA the (then) Minister of Natural Resources, Jerry Ouellette, decided to put an end to the controversy by establishing a Nuisance Bear Committee to study the situation and advise the government on any action they felt was necessary.

The committee met regularly and finally produced a long awaited report in August of 2003, however as the Conservative government was in the midst of losing an election, the report was filed and never released. It wasn't until the new Minister was appointed by the Liberal government, and because of election promises to provide a more open government, that the report was released. It can be read at: http//:www.mnr.gov.on.ca/mnr/nbrc/

A few weeks after the release of the report, when outdoor groups were convinced the hunt was coming back, David Ramsay, the (new) Minister of Natural Resources, after much hurried consultation with his advisers and his premier (prior to the election the recently elected premier, then leader of the opposition, promised southern Ontario voters that should he be elected he would not bring back the hunt.) announced that the hunt was not sustainable and would not be reinstated.

Municipalities, biologists, outdoor experts and organizations such as COHA, are troubled by the announcement and look ahead to even more nuisance bear problems throughout northern Ontario. At the writing of this article black bears are still in hibernation and northern communities are bracing themselves for bear trouble in the coming spring when hungry black bears again will be searching for food in their streets.